MOSQUE ARCHITECTURE OF BANGLADESH

Presented By:Kazi Sazed Salman

ID: 111-23-130Abu Nayem

ID:111-23-134MD. Kabir Hosen

ID:103-26-157

The Muslims needed a large space for

congregational prayer, especially on Fridays,

when all men were required to perform the

prayer collectively. During the Sultanate the Friday (jami) mosque became very important as an

official building because the Khutba (sermon delivered before the mandatory collective prayer) gave official

recognition to the ruler, and also worked as a

declaration of sovereignty. It expressed piety, and

was a potent visual symbol of the power,

ideology, and affiliation of the sponsor.

Numerous mosques were built during the five and a half centuries of Muslim rule before the British colonial period, but a few landmark monuments have been chosen to illustrate how mosque styles developed in Bengal (both the Indian state of West Bengal as well as Bangladesh).

Some important remarkable mosques are:

Adina Mosque, Maldah Baba Adam mosque, Munshiganj Masjidbari mosque, Patuakhali Lalbagh Fort mosque, Dhaka Sat Gumbad mosque, Bagerhat Bagha mosque, Rajshahi Satgumbad mosque, Dhaka Atiya mosque, Tangail Katra mosque, Murshidabad

The Adina mosque in Maldah district is the only dated mosque of the 14th century which corresponds roughly to the rule of the independent Iliyas Shahi rulers (1338-1413). It is unique not only because it is the largest mosque in South Asia, but because it is the only one in Bengal with an enclosed courtyard.

Its main prayer chamber had a great vaulted central nave now

collapsed, that divided it into two wings and related it closely to

the Great Mosque. Mosques with huge enclosed courtyards were never built again, because they

did not suit the soil, climate, and needs of the community; large, open courtyards were not very

useful in a monsoonal region like Bengal.

A good example of the 15th century style is the mosque in Rampal (Munshiganj district, Bangladesh). It is named after Baba Adam Shahid, traditionally known as an early martyr of Islam, whose tomb is nearby. It is a medium-sized, rectangular, mosque with three bays and two aisles covered by six domes.

Baba Adam Shahi mosque:

the only other dated monument in the Khan Jahan group is the Masjidbari mosque in Mirzaganj, Patuakhali district. This mosque not only indicates the extent of influence of the Khan Jahan Style, but also helps us map the southern limits of Sultan Barbak Shah's kingdom to whose reign it is dated.It is also the only extant mosque with a large chau -chala vault covering the entire verandah. The interior of the vault shows how meticulously the terracotta decoration was used to simulate the patterns of woven bamboo strips .

Masjidbari mosque:

A refined Mughal provincial style was developed in the capital city of Dhaka in the 17th century. The Lalbagh Shahi Mosque in Dhaka dated (1649) and conforms to the typical Mughal mosque plan. Located inside the fort, closest to the river, it was probably the earliest building on the site

The building is plastered, and the entire east facade is

divided into small rectangular panels; the engaged tapering corner turrets have regularly spaced horizontal moldings. The three doors in front are

placed within recessed arches with half-domes ornamented

with faceted stucco motifs.

Lateral arches in the interior divide the rectangular structure into three bays, the central one being the largest.

Lalbagh Shahi Mosque :

Sat Gumbad mosque:Sat Gumbad mosque in Bagerhat, the largest mosque in Bangladesh (fig. 8). The mosque has eleven bays and seven aisles, with the largest bay in the centre. This central bay is divided into seven independent, rectangular bays that are covered by the chau -chalas; this being the earliest use of the form in Bengal. There are seven

entrances each on the north and south sides.

Actually there are more than 60 domes in the

mosque. here the word Sat means the so many numbers, not actually

60. There is an entrance doorway reserved for the

imam so that he can enter directly from

behind the mosque.

The BAGHA MOSQUE in Rajshahi (fig. 12) was built by Sultan NUSRAT SHAH (1519-32), son of Husain Shah in 930 AH (1523-24). This rectangular mosque is within an enclosed courtyard.

The Bagha Mosque

The mosque is profusely decorated with terracotta,

and the style is so distinctive that several monuments are

dated stylistically to the early 16th century on the basis of

similarity to the 'Bagha style'. Rectangular panels

with cusped arches and hanging motifs are predominant in the

decorative scheme.

Satgumbad mosque, Dhaka

Satgumbad Mosque  located in the Muhammadpur area of Dhaka city, the building exhibits seven domes- three over the prayer chamber and four over the corner towers. Hence it is known as Satgumbad (seven domed) Mosque. The mosque occupies the western end of a slightly raised masonry plinth 26.82m by 25.60m, which is enclosed by a low wall with a gateway in the middle of the eastern side. This arched gateway with flanking ornamental turrets is exactly in alignment with the central doorway of the mosque proper.

Atiya mosque :Atiya Mosque is situated in the village of Atiya under Delduar Thana in Tangail district, about six kilometers south of the district headquarters. It stands on the east bank of the Louhajang River. The mosque is small in size, measuring externally 18.29m by 12.19m with 2.23m thick walls. It is rectangular in plan, consisting of a square single domed prayer chamber and an attached rectangular corridor on the eastern side covered with another three smaller domes.

Katra mosque

Katra Mosque (Murshidabad) is situated about 3km east of MURSHIDABAD railway station, West Bengal. The area is a market place and the mosque stands on a high platform within a square courtyard measuring 50.60m on each side. The rectangular (39.62m × 7.32m) single-aisled mosque was originally covered with five domes. There are four octagonal corner towers which taper upwards and have winding staircases leading to the top. At present, only the two corner towers on the northwestern and southwestern sides are in existence. The mosque is surrounded on all four sides by a row of double storeyed domed chambers, which are locally called 'Katra' and which were used as 'madrasas'.

Hope you have enjoyed the presentation.

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